Shelf construction



y 1950 c. A. LAYSTROM ET AL SHELF CONSTRUCTION Filed April 7r 1947 Home E S/am 5% .W IQ

Patented May 9, 1950 umrro STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

This invention; relates to improvements in. a shelf construct/iota More. particularly theinvention. relates to a shelf. construction of the type in: which a-.shelt plate. is supported at either end by a pair of brackets.

Heretofore, severalsheli and bracketcombi-nations-havebeen designed; and marketed; Aparticular disadvantage has been: experienced. in many of. these. shelf. constructions. in the inability of the brackets to. prevent movement of the shelf upwardlyoif thebracket-when thefor ward edge of. the. shelf. is accidentally struck. or bumped. Thus, bottlesaor other. articles on the shelf may be dislodged. due. to the. bump or. jar. Further, it isevident that sucha shelf should not be located. within thepossiblereaeh of. a child, since it may so easily be removed andit the. shelf is made ofglass,-. could possibly. cause harm: to. the child, especiallyit broken.

Itis therefore. an importantobject oi this invention. to provide a combination shelf and bracket. in which. the: shelf is. locked in position against accidental upward. movement.

A. further. object. ofthisl-invention is. to provide a combination. shelf? and. bracket) inwhich the plate is held in positionon. the bracket against movement laterally. back. and forth, or. directly upwardly Another. and further object. of this invention is to provide. a shelf and bracket combination wherein the shelf.. is. readily removable but. in which the.procedurerequired.to. remove theshelf is of suffici'ent complexity as to. prevent removal by small children.

A still further obiect- 01 this invention. is to provide-a, combihationsheli' andlbracket inwhich the shelf may be quickly inserted or removed from thebracket.

In accordance with the general features of this inventionthere is provided. a shelf member which is held at either end" in a groove in. the side of'a bracket, said groove Being designed to receive the shelf and hold. it. therein against unintentional dislocationor direcrupward: movement'.

An important feature of thisinvention is the provision of a groove in the bracket which is so designed as to provide: a socket at the forward end in" a shelii having a width sultstarrtially equal to the width of the groove, maybe pivotedinto horizontal position in the groove: other objects, features and advantages or this" invention will become apparent toone skilled in the art" from the following description of theemhodiments illustrated in the accompanying" drawings; wherein;-

Figure 1. is a perspective view of the novel combination shelf and bracket of the resent invention;v

Figure 2 is a plan view of one of the brackets of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevational of the bracket shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view, partly broken away, taken substantially on the line IV'-IV of Figure: l and particularly illustrating" the method'of inserting the plate in the groove of the bracket and also showing one method of mounting the bracket on the wall; and I Figure 5 is a sectionaliview', similar to Figure 4; showing a modified forniof the bracket of this invention.

In the embodiment of the presentinvention illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive, reference numeral I0 is a shelf. supported at either" endina groove in.a bracket ll.

Each bracket It comprises a base- I2 and an elongated arm [3 integrally joined to saidbase l2 and projecting outwardly substantially normal thereto. As best seen in Figures 3 and 4,.thebase i2 is of a hollow construction having a marginal wall portion IZaeXtend-ing. therearound. At' the upper edge of the base l2, asseen in Figure 4, a flange [2b extends part way across the base and projects downwardly into the hollowed-out portion of the base. The flange l2b has a slanted inner surface movable into Contact with an anchor member, to be described hereinafter.

At the lower edge of the base l2 a built-up portion I20 affords a thick wall in which a hole I4 is tapped, for receiving therein a set screw I51 The arm I3 isessentially of rectangular shape having a groove [1' out along one side. thereof. This groove may conveniently bemadeapproximately half as deep as the arm 13 and. may e115 tend from the point where the arm l3is blended into the base 12 forwardly to a point near the end of the arm. At the forward end of the aim IS the groove. I1 is undercut in the arm, provid' ing an overhanging ledge l3a which,as' will be seen, prevents upward movement of the shelf positioned in the groove;

For economy in manufacture the arm 13 may have a hollow core (Figure 3) extending lengthwise through its centerto the forward one of the arm. I

In the embodiment of this invention illustrated in Figure the glass shelf I ll has a forward b'ulb edge. To receive thistyp'e' of shelf thegroove I! has a downwardly inclined edge [To which conforms" substantially to the outline of the" shell; The extreme forward edgeof the groove downwardly into position on the bracket. How-.

ever, as the plate is moved forwardly into the socket at the extreme end of the groove I] it'attains a position where it can be pivoted downwardly without contacting the rear edge of the groove. Thus it is evident that not only is the pose to limit the patent granted hereon other than as necessitated by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention: 1. A shelf bracket comprising a base portion having means for locking engagement on a wall and an arm portion integrally connected to said .base and substantially perpendicular thereto,

having a cutout portion along one side thereof, said cutout portion being open at the top for substantially the entire length of the top surface of said arm and having a forward grooved porshelf is held against upward movement by the overhanging ledge [3a, but, by properly choosing the width of the plate. a relatively close fit of the plate between the forward edge and the rear edge of the groove ll may be attained. It is also evident, that the brackets ll canbe sospaced apart in relation to the length of the shelf'plate If as to hold the shelf against the inner side'edges of the groove [1, thereby preventing any substantial lateral movement of the plate.

Therefore, we have provided in this invention a shelf constructiorl'in which'the shelf is held against lateral or back and forth movement, and also against movement jdirectly upwardly. Further, this shelf may be removed from the brackets only by reversing the procedure illustrated in Figure 4, that is, first pivoting the shelfupwardly at its rear end and then slidingthe bulb edge backwardly in the forward portion of the groove. Itls manifest that thisjconstruction will. sub

stantially eliminate the possibility of accidental dislocation of the shelf or removal by a small. child. 1 I ,fInFigureis illustrated a modified form of the bracket of this invention. It ispossible, of course,

. to position a shelf plate having a flat forward edge in the bracket shown in Figure 4. The overhanging edge l3a of the groove in the bracket will prevent upward movement of a flat plate in substantialy the same way. as it prevents move ment of a bulb-edged plate. The modified form of bracket illustrated in Figure 5 has a groove 48 .1

tachingthe bracketof this invention to a wall. Ajlockingplate' 2B, ,which may be conveniently screwed into thewall, isprovided with an upper arc-shaped lip 2|, which. is bent outwardly away from the wall, and, a,l-ower substantially arc-shaped lip 22 which is also bent outwardly away from the wall. To position the bracket on this lockingplate the flange I 2b is positioned over tionwhich extends'under the top surface of said arm to provide an overhanging ledge to hold a, shelf placed in said cutout portion against direct upward movement.

.2. Abracket comprising a base portion having'means for locking engagement on a wall, an arm portion, integrally secured to said base portion and" disposed substantially perpendicular thereto having a cutout portion along one side thereoff said "cutout portion providing "a substantially horizontal smooth surface for supporting a shelf placed thereon, and providing I side and rear'walls at right angles to the'plane of said horizontal surface for positioning the rear and side edges of a shelf, said cutout 'portion being open at the top'for substantially the entire length oflthfe top surface of said arm and having a forward groove portionwhich extends under the'top" su'rfaceto provide an overhanging ledge to hold ashelfplaced in said'jcutout portion against movement directly upwardly.

3. A bracket comprising a base portion having means for engagement in locking position on a :wall member, an arm member supported by'said base and extending' substantially per; pendicular thereto havingafoutout portion open at the top for substantially the entire length of the top surface of-sa'id arm and having a forward groove portion which extends under the top surface of i said arrnto provide an overhanging ledge to hold lashelf: plate in said cutout portion against movement directly upwardly, the groove having a downwardly inclined lower edge and a socket-like compartment at the extrerne forward end in which, the forward endof the shelf may be positioned prior to swinging the rear end ofthe shelf, ownwardly onto the lower surface of said cutout portion. A

. 4. Incombination, a shelf, a pair of brackets for supporting said 'shelf, "each bracket having a cut-out portion in .one side thereof, the cutout portions in said pair of bracjketsfbeing opi v. d s osdft ceiv he opposite. ends. of said shelf, each of said brackets comprising a base portion having means for locking engagementon 54' Wall, an arm portion disposed substantially.jperpendicularfto saidbase and bemg formed'integraltherewith, having", a cut-out portion along one side thereof, said cut-out por'-.-' tion being open atthe top for substantially the entire length 'of the top surface of said "arm and the lip 2| between this lip. and the wall. The set screw l5 disposed in the lower portionfof the base of the bracket is then advanced to contact the underside of thelip .22 and force the base of the bracket downwardly so that the flange l2b will-be moved into tight holding contact against the underside. of the lip?! Thus thebracket is having .a forward groove portion. which extends under the top surface, of ,said arm toprovide an overhanging ledgefor holdinga shelf placed in said cut-out portio'n'r against movement directly,

- upwardly....

details'of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from theprinciples of this invention, and it is therefore not the pur- 5.. A. support bracket .for; a. shelf comprising an armhaving a cutoutportion defining a support ledge for-said shelf .and 'means-forsecuring said ,arm to atwall saidicutgut .portionibeingformed at the forward end, to provide a. .grpqv'e; affording an overhanging ledge .pomhh, said groove having a forward portion sloping downwardly away from said overhanging ledge and defining a pivot chamber in which the front edge of the shelf is positioned permitting the front edge of the shelf to pivot upwardly and the rear edge to pivot downwardly onto said ledge as the shelf is positioned thereon.

CARL A. LAYSTROM.

HOWARD R. SIGLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Clear Jan. 11, 1910 Wood Sept. 28, 1920 Chamberlain et al. Aug. 6, 1929 Hoegger Oct. 21, 1930 Stanitz May 31, 1932 Parmet June 13, 1933 Tritt July 2, 1940 King Sept. 7, 1943 Rompre Oct. 21, 1947 

